A Curious Detail of Natural Magic

[ecosophia]

These days people in most Western countries assume as a matter of course that engagement and wedding rings have to have diamonds on them. That didn't become the universal custom until after the Second World War, though; it was in 1947 that the DeBeers diamond syndicate launched the first of a series of massive ad campaigns under the slogan "Diamonds Are Forever." Well, maybe they are, but...

In the lore of natural magic, every kind of gemstone has a different effect on consciousness; these are normally categorized by the old scheme of the seven planets. Diamonds correspond to the planet Mars. Their magical virtue is that they give strength and victory in battle, but they are also traditionally unlucky, and make their wearers unhappy. 

Maybe it's just pure coincidence, but I find myself noticing that it was right after a stone of war and unhappiness became standard wear for married women that the divorce rate began to soar, and many branches of the feminist movement took on a distinctly angry and bitter tone. 

If you want a better-omened stone for an engagement or a wedding ring, the magical lore suggests going for an emerald. Emeralds correspond to Venus, and are fortunate for love; they were held to strengthen the eyes and the memory; and they make the wearer truthful and difficult to fool by trickery, all of which would be helpful in marriage. I'm sure the diamond merchants won't approve, but it might be worth trying to reverse the trend...

Comments

[ecosophia]

Interesting! Opals have a bad reputation in the old magical lore, but you may have hit on a way of balancing them -- just as onyx is safe when worn together with sard, the protective energy of garnets may make it possible to wear an opal safely. Garnets are stones of Mars, with a warm protective energy; they strengthen the will, especially in the matter of promises -- swear an oath over a garnet and you will keep it -- and they also banish nightmares, depression, and misfortune.

[(Anonymous)]

(Tolkienguy)

Does this mean the best wedding ring would be an emerald (love) with a couple of smaller garnets (fidelity)?

[(Anonymous)]

I don’t think there’s a “the best” anything. “The best” wedding ring is the one that brings the most happiness to you and your spouse.

But yes, you can most certainly combine stones to bring about the qualities you desire, and if you and your spouse decide on the stones and their properties together, you will strenghthen the power of the stones you choose.

You could choose any qualities you wanted to bring into your marriage, whether fertility (for a large family), passion, romantic love, spiritual union, harmony, fidelity, loyalty, or even things like creativity, intelligence, stamina, or competition, if these things bring strength to your relationship (say, if you are a pair of athletes who met at the gym, or a pair of musicians who write songs together, or whatever).

You have to do the research ;) I’m not just giving away my lists of stone correspondences (mostly because I don’t want carpal tunnel from all the typing).

Sincerely
Jessi Thompson
anotheramethyst